Renewable energy resources are energy resources that are replaced by natural processes at rates faster than such energy resources can be consumed by humans or technically cannot be consumed at all. Examples of renewable energy resources include solar radiation, wind, tides, amongst others. Non-renewable energy resources are energy resources that cannot be produced naturally at the rate they are consumed by humans. Examples of non-renewable energy resources include fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas, as well as materials utilized to generate nuclear power, such as uranium. These non-renewable energy resources may have environmental issues associated therewith; for instance, experts have posited that carbon generation may cause global warming.
As the population of the world has increased, demand for energy has likewise increased, due to increasing numbers of people as well as more sophisticated apparatuses that require energy to effectively operate. In an example, data centers that are configured to perform complex computational tasks require a significant amount of energy to operate effectively. For instance, relatively large data centers can have an electrical power draw of multiple megawatts at any particular point in time. Furthermore, recent studies indicate that costs of powering data centers is expected to exceed costs of equipment in the relatively near future.
The majority of energy consumed by humans is generated through utilization of non-renewable energy resources. Due to increasing costs and environmental concerns mentioned above, as well as prospects of significant taxation on atmospheric carbon generation, there is increasing global pressure to look to renewable energy sources for generating electrical power. Several issues still exist, however, with respect to power systems that utilize renewable energy resources to generate power. These issues include site selection as well as energy management.
Because renewable energy resources typically vary depending upon geographic location, selecting an appropriate site for a power system that utilizes a renewable energy resource to generate power is critical. Conventionally, selecting a site is accomplished by examining coarse valued data collected by established reporting sites such as airports (e.g., average daily wind speed, average number of sunny days per year) to identify potential site locations. Thereafter, instrumentation is physically deployed at a prospective site, and measurements are collected over an extended period of time (e.g., 1-3 years). Thus, this requires long-term planning and significant investment in determining appropriate sites. If the measurements indicate that the tested site is not appropriate, the process is restarted.
Furthermore, once the power system is constructed, the power system will output variable amounts of power over time, as the renewable energy resources vary over time and location. Accordingly, if demand for power does not correspond to supply, then consumers of power may not be provided with adequate power from the power system.